


This Will Never Happen Again

by Moshimma



Series: Why Wouldn’t We? [2]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: AU - Kiss of Life, Angst, Banter, Bickering, Crying, Hugging, Kissing, M/M, Overall kind of wholesome, Overthinking, Ricky being an overthinking mess because that's what he does, but only a teaspoon, or is it banter?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26594128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moshimma/pseuds/Moshimma
Summary: Ricky had never been close to his expiration, ever. He always had Nini to help him, so he didn't imagine that he'd ever get even remotely close.But Nini wasn't in East High anymore, so it made it hard for Ricky to avoid it anymore. He needed to kiss someone. Whoever, just to save him.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/E.J. Caswell, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: Why Wouldn’t We? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933018
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	This Will Never Happen Again

Ricky Bowen was born hanging on by a thread. No really, his umbilical cord was very thin and fragile.

But what was worse was how short his kiss-expiration was.

"Two weeks?"

"Yes. You might need to be on Kissalatram until you're old enough for surgery, which means your expiration can be pushed up to 3 months sometimes."

It was tough sometimes, but karma seemed to balance his bad luck by giving him a cute face. And a charming smile.

And he was a good kisser. He knew it.

And even better, he inherited the balance his father had, so his levels rarely ever got high enough to be in critical condition.

And when he saw E.J. at his lowest, pale skin, grey hair, thin face, he realized he never wanted to get that bad. But there was still something that stuck with him even months after their... interaction.

E.J. didn't seemed too fazed by it, like the older boy expected it to happen one day, and moved on right away. When the Beauty and the Beast Musical happened- which was a tragedy everyone vowed to forget- they generally avoided each other. And if it wasn't for their fight scene, they would've probably avoided each other completely.

The fight scene though, was everything Ricky wanted to prevent. Touching each other, staring into each other's eyes, generally having more chemistry and tension than Belle and the Beast- _because Gina really didn't like flirting with E.J.-_ and overall having a good bad time.

And everytime they practiced and performed it, Ricky swore he could feel everything E.J. felt. Almost like they were connected, as much as it made him furious to think of any boy like that.

Especially when his girlfriend was right there, showing up to their school as much as she could while attending her theater program.

Ricky really missed her sometimes.

And it was one of those times where Nini wasn't there that Ricky felt like he was at the lowest. He felt like his kiss-expiration was growing closer. but he was still too sad to even ask for Nini.

Besides, what kind of terrible boyfriend would he be if he asks someone to get into a plane and waste a whole day just because he needed a kiss?

But, when he woke up with a strand of gray hair next to his head, he really started to freaking out. He jumped out of his bed, immediately, running to the bathroom as fast as he could. It was almost 4 months after his... _interaction..._ with E.J. and he generally kept it in the back of his mind, but everyone now and then it would flash in his mind. The awkward begging E.J. did before it started, the way E.J. breathed down into Ricky's face, the way Ricky didn't completely hate the feeling of the older boy's lips or his hand behind him.

But the fact that it came right after seeing E.J. at his lowest, it really changed his view on kiss-expiration.

He took a second to observe himself on the mirror. His eyes were droopy, like he was sleepy, and his roots weren't as vibrant as the rest of his hair. Although it was faint, he could also see his lips were chapped more than usual, and his face was just slightly more paler than usual.

He reached down, not finding his bottle of pills. That sent him into an actual spiral of anxiety. He turned around and ran to his dad's room, not even knocking while going in. The next few seconds all blurred together in his panic mode. Something about his dad taking the bottle to refill it, but forgetting to leave it in the house before leaving for a trip. Next thing he knew, Ricky was answering questions on autopilot.

"I have a friend who takes the pill, maybe he can give me some until you come back?"

"Ricky that's illegal."

"So is dying!"

"No, it is not."

"Wouldn't you get charged with _parental neglect_ or something?"

His dad scoffed from the other end of the line, "Okay, just don't tell your mom."

"And don't tell Nini, wouldn't want to worry her."

Ricky hung up and ran to his room, getting ready to leave.

———

He pulled up to the driveway, parking his car as quickly as humanly possible. He got out and walked to the door, knocking on it like he was trying to knock it down.

"Coming!" he heard someone say from behind the door.

Ricky sighed as it opened, E.J. standing there, still wearing his PJ's.

"Oh, hi Ricky."

"Caswell, I need your pills!"

E.J. nodded silently, "This isn't that type of neighborhood..."

"No, not drugs, _idiot_ , I meant Kissalatram!"

"Uhhh... I don't take them anymore. Do you want some Flintstone pills? I bought a bottle yesterday."

Ricky rolled his eyes at E.J.'s smile and turned around, ready to leave.

"Wait, Ricky, calm down. What's going on?"

Ricky opened his car and jumped in, "I'm gonna die, leave me alone."

"Okay, dude, calm down. Your hair isn't even gray, you still have time."

"Easy for you to say, Mr. 'I don't take them anymore'!"

Ricky placed his keys in the slot, trying to turn the engine on.

E.J. thought about letting him go, but he decided to follow the younger boy outside, stopping by his window, "Wait! Ricky!"

Ricky turned the ignition on, "Leave me alone!"

"You're gonna kill yourself, dude!"

"No, I'm gonna die from expiration!"

E.J. laughed, causing Ricky to stop what he was doing, "What?"

E.J. tried to stifle the laugh, but he just ended up extending it further.

Ricky frowned, annoyed, "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry, it's just that I've never really seen you freak out like this!"

Ricky stopped spiraling for a second, and he looked around at himself. His eyes glared back at him through the rearview mirror, only reminding him of his increasing panic.

E.J. opened the door and reached over Ricky, turning the car off. Ricky grew a little more comfortable feeling E.J.'s shoulder graze him slightly. Maybe he was just touch-starved.

His car died down, along with his anxiety.

"Sorry," he said, "I was spiraling."

"Yeah, I can tell."

E.J. helped RIcky out of the car, pulling him outside, "What's up? Why are you so freaked out?"

Ricky shrugged, not really in the mood for talking, "Can I have a glass of water or something?"

"I have OJ..?"

"Yeah, that's okay."

They walked inside the house, Ricky ignoring his surroundings as he concentrated on breathing. E.J. tried his hardest to prevent any staring, but Ricky could feel his gaze burning into his neck as they sat down at the kitchen. Ricky snapped out of it briefly, just at the same time as E.J. reached into a cabinet over the counter, his shirt rising slowly. Ricky mentally scolded himself for even noticing it. He felt like he was somehow cheating on Nini for even being at her ex's house. It wasn't like Nini evem hated E.J., she was mostly apathetic to him after the break up.

Still, he didn't feel all that comfortable.

He heard E.J. pouring the orange juice on a clear glass, whoch brough Ricky back to the world. He didn't know if he was feeling weaker by his nearing expiration, or by the boy in front of him.

Whatever it was, it wasn't helping his heart rate.

"So," E.J. said as he set the glass in front of Ricky, "Are you gonna talk to me after drinking that?"

The pale boy grabbed the glass and chugged it down quicjky, " _Aaah._ Give me a second, I didn't have breakfast."

"So your sudden arrival at my house was more of a 'Do now, think later' thing?"

"Well, you owe me, so I thought I would cash in the favor."

"Why do I owe you?"

Ricky's eyes widened, not sure if E.J. was actually asking that seriously.

E.J.'s face stayed the same, staring inquistively at the other boy.

"Caswell, I know you don't really talk to me about it, but I did almost save you that one time."

"Oh. You meant _that_ thing?" 

"What else would I be talking about?"

E.J. nodded, moving around the counter and getting near Ricky, "So, you wanna _cash in the favor,_ huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, I assumed you were still on meds."

"So you didn't come here for me to make out with you..?"

Ricky felt his throat dry up, immediately responding, "W-what? No! W-why would you think that?"

"Because you kissed me, and you said I owed you, so..."

"I mean the Kissalatram! Not kissing..."

E.J. smiled and walked closer, _"So I shouldn't kiss you right now?"_

Ricky looked up, his heart suddenly picking up again, _"No...":_

_"Maybe you should try saying that with more confidence?"_

Ricky leaned closer into E.J. as if by instinct, not thinking. He stayed silent as his breathing got progressively worse, and his eyes seemed hyper fixated on the older boy.

_"E.J., wait."_

He closed his eyes as E.J. closed the space between them, taking the lead this time. He moved his hands behind Ricky;s lower back, trying to keep him from falling. Ricky let out a gasp into his mouth, his senses firing up at the human contact.

E.J. smiled, his lips planted firmly on Ricky, refusing to let the other boy go. RIcky, in return, didn't stop him. He felt energized, but he didn't know if it was his body returning back to normal or his reaction to the feeling of E.J. kissing him all over again. his knee jerked, up, bending behind th taller boy, almost pulling them deeper into the kiss, which was now lasting longer than Ricky could process. He didn't even feel guilty about-

Wait.

"E.J.! Wait!" Ricky used his hands and pushed E.J. away a few inches, his hand on the boy's chest.

E.J. opened his eyes and took in the sight below him. He tried not to move any closer, focusing on the way Ricky was reacting. He could tell how much his head was running, like he couldn't take this much in that fast.

Ricky sighed, looking down in shame. At this, E.J. chose to increse the space between them, straightening his back.

Ricky then grabbed E.J.'s shirt, pulling him closer, "I didn't say 'stop', I said 'wait'."

The older boy smiled, trying to contain his excitement building inside, "Your hair looks fine now, _you_ seem fine now."

"Shut up ad let me think."

Ricky tried to breathe in slowly, his head filled with the taste of E.J.'s lips pressed against his again. He tried to rationalize his feelings in any way, but no explanation was convincing enough.

Except for the one where Ricky was secretly gay and into E.J. the whole time, but that meant that Ricky somehow didn't realize a significantly large part of his life for seeminglt no reason. Which in turn meant that _NIni_ didn't mean anything to him, which would be opeing an even bigger can of worms, so his mind was trying its hardest to avoid that scenario.

E.J. pressed closer to him, hugging him. He knew exactly what was going on through his mind. His mind was racing the exact same way when Ricky first kissed him. He could practically hear the thoughts of insecurity oozing out of the younger boy, so he pressed tighter, holding him together even for just a second.

Ricky could feel tears building up, but he couldn't bring himself to get them out. And yet, he wanted to just let his whole being melt in E.J.'s arms. he sniffed at the memory of being liked this, in his own corner of the universe, just E.J. around him. He breathed in the fresh pine scent of the taller boy, practically dying to stay like that forever. His mind kept rushing, but his heart seemed to be content with just E.J., which was a feeling too new for Ricky to accept quickly.

"You're okay, Ricky, don't worry."

This made him finally snap. It was all too much for his tear ducts to handle, the thought of seeing E.J. at his lowest, Nini leaving, his mother leaving, everyone leaving, except E.J., who was the only thing keeping him together.

Ricky turned E.J.'s head, kissing him again.

———

Ricky stood up, throwing his shirt on him again, pulling his jacket off the floor.

"Are you okay?" E.J. asked, still laying on the bed.

"I think so. Thanks."

"It's no big deal, just wanted to make sure. You kinda cried a little bit for a while there."

Ricky sighed, "Yeah, sorry if I got some snot on you."

"It's fine, I didnt' mind it."

Ricky grabbed the shoes from one corner of the room, sitting himself on the bed while putting them on.

E.J. sat up, wrapping his arms around Ricky behind him, locking in his stomach.

Ricky smiled slighly at the feeling of the older boy's muscles wrapping around him, "Do I have any hickeys?"

"Yeah, but your jacket covers it."

"Okay. I'm hanging out with Big Red today, so I wouldn't wanna deal with everything right now. Plus, he would probably scold me about Nini."

"Right, your girlfriend."

"You're okay, right?"

E.J. nodded slightly, still pressed against the other boy, "Yup, you're straight."

"Are _you_?"

"Let me check. I liked kissing your chest, and the point where your jawline meets your ear, and your Adam's apple definitelty was one of my favorite's so... Yeah, I'm probably not straight."

"You don't expect me to think like that, right?"

E.J. let go of the younger boy, laying down again, "Ricky, I know this wasn't about me being a guy. It was about me not being Nini."

Ricky sighed, "Sorry."

He finished tying his shoes, standing up. He walked to the doorway, standing halfway through it before turning around, "Y'know, if you ever need anything, just call me."

"Yeah."

"...And if I ever need anything..."

"Then you'll call your _girlfriend._ "

Ricky scoffed, noddind slowly, "Yeah, of course. Bye, E.J."

"Bye, Bowen."

Ricky turned around, leaving the room as he closed the door. He tried not looking back, just walking away,

**Author's Note:**

> Idk my dudes, I just wanted to write, I'm kinda sorry that I posted this less that 48 hours later, but I feel inspired rn. I have trouble writing narration in het men, my non-binary brain is too used to being open, so this was a bit of a challenge.
> 
> I also felt like expanding the AU a lil' bit idk.


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